For centuries, William Shakespeare has been celebrated as the greatest playwright in the English language. Yet few visitors to Paris realize that the Bard’s works were rejected by French cultural elites for over a century, sparking one of the most fascinating cultural debates in literary history—and ultimately forging an unexpected bond between Paris and London.
The story begins in the 17th century, when French classical theatre reigned supreme. Playwrights like Molière, Racine, and Corneille had established rigid rules for drama: the famous three unities of time, place, and action. Shakespeare’s sprawling plots, multiple locations, and mixing of tragedy with comedy violated every principle French critics held sacred.
Voltaire, who spent time in exile in England during the 1720s, returned to France with mixed feelings about Shakespeare. While initially praising the English playwright’s genius, he later called him a “drunken savage” whose works lacked the refinement of French drama. This dismissive attitude dominated Parisian cultural circles well into the 18th century.
The Translation That Sparked Debate
In 1776, Pierre Le Tourneur published the first complete French translation of Shakespeare’s works, dedicated to King Louis XVI. The translation sparked fierce debate in Parisian salons and cafés. Was Shakespeare a genius breaking free from artificial constraints, or a barbarian who knew nothing of proper dramatic form?
The French Revolution brought winds of change. By the early 19th century, Romantic writers like Victor Hugo championed Shakespeare as a revolutionary force against classical rigidity. The true turning point came in 1827, when an English theatre company performed Shakespeare in English at the Odéon Theatre in Paris.
The Performances That Changed Everything
The 1827 performances created a sensation. Audiences were deeply divided and affected. The young Hector Berlioz attended and fell madly in love with the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, who played Ophelia and Juliet. He would eventually marry her and compose his Symphonie Fantastique inspired by his obsession.
By mid-century, Shakespeare had conquered Paris. The playwright once dismissed as too crude for French tastes gradually found acceptance on Parisian stages, a remarkable cultural transformation that reflected the broader Romantic movement’s challenge to classical conventions.
A Shared Heritage Today
Today, Paris embraces Shakespeare as enthusiastically as Shakespeare’s London does. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France houses one of the world’s finest collections of Shakespeare folios and quartos. French theatres regularly stage his works, a testament to how far French attitudes have evolved since Voltaire’s dismissive critiques.
The Shakespeare and Company bookshop on the Left Bank, though named after the original store that published James Joyce, has become a pilgrimage site for English literature lovers. Its location near Notre-Dame makes it one of Paris’s most photographed literary landmarks, a physical manifestation of the Anglo-French literary dialogue that Shakespeare’s contested legacy created.
For visitors traveling between London and Paris, Shakespeare’s story reminds us that the greatest cultural treasures often transcend national boundaries. The playwright who was once rejected by French cultural elites is now claimed by both capitals as part of their shared European heritage—proof that art, given time, can overcome even the deepest cultural divides.
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